Trump Staff Picks, Co-Conspirators and the Revolving Door of Departures

[rareboy]

Some of them are reaaaaalllllllllllllllllyyyyyyy dragging their feet though.

There will probably be a whole slew of them suddenly decide on January 19th that they just can't support Trump any more.

 

[NotHardUp1]

That's unfair.

Anyone resigning had to come to terms with what they would do and how it would impact families, careers, etc.

Add to that the fact that there are lots of people telling them to stay, for a variety of reasons, and they have legitimate reasons to have taken several days to decide. It hasn't even been a week.

It's disingenuous to constantly rail about the need to do something about Trump, and then those in power begin agreeing to piss on them because they weren't the first disciples.

It is again painting all the opposition as only evil, only cynical, unredeemable cowards. You are creating the very deep division that everyone acknowledges is killing my country, if not yours .

 

[rareboy]

O c'mon.

Apparently a lot of them are just trying to hold on to keep their health insurance.

But every day that goes by where they don't resign or speak out, only to then resign and blame it on Trump's attempt to overthrow the government....after they have been party to it for months or even years is what is disingenuous.

From here on in, they should either shut up recognizing that their moment to display their moral outrage has passed...or not try to scramble to repair their own reputations as they look ahead to the difficulties they may face when trying to get another job.

These Kapos and collaborators owe America that much at this point.

 

[KaraBulut]

...These Kapos and collaborators owe America that much at this point.

I've often wondered what the "I'm outta here" red line is for today's modern bureaucrats, politicians and recipients of political patronage.

Is it...

1. When the candidate insults the family of his competitors in the Presidential race?
2. When the candidate insults disabled people?
3. When the candidate insults a war hero?
4. When the President calls the Free Press "the enemy of the people"?
5. When the President says that racists and white supremacists are "very fine people"?
6. When the President coddles up to our enemies like Russia and North Korea? When the President insults our allies like Canada and Germany?
7. When the President lies to the American people over 10,000 times?
8. When the President denigrates and insults the American military? When the President does nothing to a foreign enemy who pays a bounty for killing American soldiers?
9. When the President extorts a foreign ally to attempt to get dirt on a political opponent and then obstructs the investigation into his crime? Or when he punishes the civil servants who gave testimony regarding the President's crimes?
10. When the President lies to the public about a pandemic that ultimately will kill half a million people in the US?
11. When the President does everything he can to disenfranchise voters and sabotage an election?
12. When the President creates a grand fiction that the election is rigged (which started before 3-Nov) and that he won the election (which started after 3-Nov)?
13. When the President attempts a coup to overthrow the results of a free and fair election of the American people?

Now, I know the answer.

But hey, "he cut taxes and my 401K looks great!"

 

[NotHardUp1]

But you're imputing everything. That's the problem with one-sided attacks.

Your straw men would certainly fade under the balance that the resigning staff would argue. They're only boxable and dismissable when you get to fill their minds and mouths with your imputations. That's puppeteering, or even less, just venting. That's a different thread.

It's all well and good enough to say what must be the case, but in real debates, one side doesn't walk so easily.

They're resigning. If nothing else, that could help wavering Republican Senators rationalize their own permission to jump ship.

This pattern of beating the defectors is insane. There are plenty of enemies still sitting in the White House, in the Congress and elsewhere. One month ago, no one thought it possible that Cotton would oppose Trump.

Brutus correctly decried appearing to show wrath in death and envy afterward. Although Marc Antony went on to kick their asses, I don't think that the memorable phrase about overkill was meant to be Brutus' tragic flaw.

Stop kicking the converts. And they have converted, at least publicly, to a position distancing themselves from Trump. That's what the left wants, Trump weakened and alone. Stop fighting your own progress. It's crazy.

 

[rareboy]

You think they are converts.

That is the difference.

I see them as being like a huge number of the SS and hardcore Nazis at the end of WWII who made a show of denying and decrying Hitler....but I knew some of them.

And they were no converts.

They were rank opportunists who bailed when the stench threatened to hurt their chances after the war.

That is all I am seeing here.

All these people know they are out of a job in 10 days. They have known what they were working for.

There is no Come to Jesus Moment here that I can see.

 

[NotHardUp1]

No, I don't think they are converts. They defected publicly, which IS conversion. No one said they stopped being conservative or Republican. The Trump movement is the largest evil. It's not necessary that we all sign up to hate all conservatives. You've got that covered for all.

I don't know or care if they have seen the light, hired a transgender staff member, forsworn meat eating, or paid slave reparations. They rejected Trump's actions, which is what is at stake.

All this clairvoyance of prophesying their thoughts and intents is yet again another purity test, policing thoughts, defining who is or isn't holy enough to not be hated.

They quit! They quit after an outrageous scandal. That's all we really know.

We don't know, by like virtue, which protestors in a BLM rally are really there for social justice, or which are anarchists wanting to just burn down the place after dark. But when they are marching, they are marching. It's not fair to 2nd guess and impute motives that are unknowable.

No one is praising or fawning over those resigning, but wanting them to stay inside until you set the church on fire with them in it ideologically is simply gratuitous hate.

 

[rareboy]

The Washington Post has also noticed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/09/trump-cabinet-resignations-death-star/

 

[KaraBulut]

The Washington Post has also noticed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/09/trump-cabinet-resignations-death-star/

And it might be an analogy that might be understandable to the modern masses.

 

[rareboy]

This guy.

I quit.

Wait, I don't.

Wait. Now I do again because I can't be associated with Trump's insurrection.

According to The Washington Post, Christopher Ford, the assistant secretary for international security and nonproliferation, initially sent a resignation letter to staff on Thursday, titled “A fond impending farewell.”

Then:

“I must reconsider that timeline,” Ford wrote. “I cannot continue to serve in an administration at a time in which some are willing to condone, or even to incite, violent insurrection against the country I hold dear and whose Constitution I have taken a sacred oath to support and defend.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...cinds-then-reissues-resignation-letter-to-say

 

[NotHardUp1]

And it might be an analogy that might be understandable to the modern masses.

Can't read the article without subscribing.

Kind of a Departure.....

He doesn't answer to an electorate, although his stature makes his exit consequential.

 

[Kulindahr]

The Washington Post has also noticed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/09/trump-cabinet-resignations-death-star/

That's brilliant.

 

[rareboy]

CHUD.

Gone doncha know.

But not because he is APPALLED by last weeks coup attempt.

"Unfortunately, this action is warranted by recent events, including the ongoing and meritless court rulings regarding the validity of my authority as Acting Secretary," he said, apparently referencing a federal judge ruling that invalidated a suspension of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on the basis that Wolf has not been serving his position lawfully.

Oh gee.

It is January 11.

And in 9 days, Ima gonna be fired anyhoo.

Get the shredders going staff.

https://www.axios.com/homeland-secu...ns-77aecf21-28d8-4c4b-9e41-904bd90d49b3.html?

 

[rareboy]

Following him out the door is the acting director of ICE...Jonathan Fahey...who has been in the job for all of 2 weeks.

Another one afraid of the taint from being a TrumpCo. appointee.

Wonder if he was there because he thought Trump's coup might be successful and he would be there to help for the next 20 years of the Trump presidency?

Or has someone let him know that he's out of a job on January 20th?

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/534174-acting-director-of-ice-resigns

 

[NotHardUp1]

Or is he a career bureaucrat who was rising and not going to wait until what could have been eight years to advance his career?

He was promoted to a titled position for two weeks that he accepted after knowing the election was to the Democrats. It's entirely possible he was asked to take an unacceptable action or became briefed on information that he could not support.

[Text: Removed] We don't have to like Trump's administration to not believe everyone working in it is an SS trooper. After all, the loyal Americans who spoke up in the first impeachment trial were serving in the Trump administration. They had not resigned their posts when previous outrages occurred.

Fahey was a non-person to most Americans. Now you would have us be sure he was a rising Goebbels. Bitter coffee you drink.

 

[KaraBulut]

Going against tradition, Trump did not request the resignation of political appointees until the last gasps of his days in office.


After Delays and Tumult, Trump Tells Political Appointees to Submit Resignations [NY Times]

Until Thursday, the White House had still not told its political appointees to step down, a routine request to smooth presidential transitions that usually happens within weeks of an election.

The new administration requested several additional resignations.

Michael Pack whined about how he was asked to resign and his job was supposed to be non-partisan. On his way out the door, he packed the boards of Radio Free Europe with wingnuts, evangelical activists and Trump loyalist. Watch what they do, not what they say.
Trump-appointed head of Global Media agency resigns at Biden's request [CNN]

Michael Pack, the controversial Trump-appointed CEO of the US Agency for Global Media, resigned on Wednesday after a request from the Biden administration.
Pack, a conservative documentary filmmaker who became CEO in June, has been widely criticized for his stewardship of the international news services under USAGM, including the Voice of America.

"The new administration has requested my resignation," Pack wrote in a letter to staff.

In one of his last acts, Pack on Tuesday announced new boards of directors for the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and Middle East Broadcasting Networks, three other news organizations under USAGM's supervision.

The members are conservative talk radio host Blanquita Cullum; Jonathan Alexander from the conservative, anti-LGBTQ Liberty Counsel; pro-Trump filmmaker Amanda Milius; Roger Simon, who according to his LinkedIn writes for the Epoch Times, the pro-Trump paper with ties to Falun Gong; and Christian Whiton, a fellow at the Center for National Interest who served in the Trump and Bush administrations.

The counsel for the NLRB had been accused of weakening workers rights and enabling corporate management in labor disputes. He refused to resign, so he got fired.
Trump officials at labor board ousted by Biden after resisting removal [Politico]

President Joe Biden is forcing out two Trump-era counsels from the National Labor Relations Board, the first time in more than 70 years a president has exercised that power over the agency.

National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Peter Robb, a Trump appointee, was fired Wednesday after refusing a request from Biden to step down from his post. On Thursday, Biden asked for the resignation of Robb's replacement, Deputy General Counsel Alice Stock, by 5 p.m. or said she would be dismissed.

One of Pence's allies from Indiana is gone.
Surgeon general to step down as Biden requested [Politico]

President-elect Joe Biden has asked for the resignation of Surgeon General Jerome Adams, bringing the tenure of the nation's top doctor to an abrupt end as Biden looks to reboot the federal government's pandemic response.

Adams confirmed his plans to step down in a tweet on Wednesday morning, calling it the “honor of my life to serve this Nation.”

In a touch of irony, the CFPB Director resigned. The Republicans had filed a lawsuit during the Trump Administration arguing that a President should be able to fire the CFPB Director. And he did.
Biden Asks Consumer Protection Chief Kraninger To Step Down [PYMTNS.com]

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger handed in her resignation Wednesday (Jan. 20) at the request of U.S. President Joe Biden, newly sworn in as the 46th U.S. president, Bloomberg Law reported.

The President Donald Trump appointee announced her resignation on Twitter about one hour after Biden was inaugurated. Kraninger, who was appointed in December 2018, said she would leave her post effective immediately.

During the Capitol Riots, the Acting Secretary of Defense (who had been on the job for just a few weeks after Trump fired Sec Esper) was nowhere to be found. Eventually, the Sec of the Army had to send in the National Guard to quell the riot.
Army secretary McCarthy resigns [Democrat Gazette]

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy resigned Wednesday in a letter sent to the military's largest branch, capping a term of tumultuous moments that ended with the unprecedented use of the National Guard at home.

His departure comes amid questions about his role in readying National Guard troops to respond to the U.S. Capitol riot in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, and about whether delays contributed to the disastrous outcome. His responsibilities included overseeing the use of guard members in the District of Columbia.

 

[rareboy]

I hope that Biden also just removes the board appointments Trump and his Obergruppenfuehers made as well.

 

[KaraBulut]

I hope that Biden also just removes the board appointments Trump and his Obergruppenfuehers made as well.

I have to say that I was very surprised that they targeted so many Trump appointees so quickly and before the Biden confirmation hearings were done. It's a pleasant surprise.

Some of the "moles" that the Trumpers put in place in the past couple of months are civil service employees. They may be hard to fire, so the White House may have to give them assignments in Fargo ND or some out-of-the-way place where they can do no harm. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is required to report any appointees that were converted to civil servants but that report is done quarterly, so it would be weeks before the report comes out. The Biden Administration may have to request that the inspector generals do some investigation about all the last minute shuffling that was going on.

Pelosi did go after this one... it might be faster just to get a list of all former Devin Nunes staffers and find out where they were reassigned.
Michael Ellis, a Trump appointee at the N.S.A. who was sworn in on Tuesday, has been placed on leave. [NY Times]

The Biden administration on Wednesday put Michael Ellis, a Trump loyalist who was sworn in on Tuesday as the top lawyer for the National Security Agency, on administrative leave, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.

Mr. Ellis’s last-minute appointment was ordered over the weekend by Christopher C. Miller, then the acting defense secretary, prompting Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call for an inspector general investigation of his selection and request that the Pentagon stop his swearing-in.

The Trump administration, not surprisingly, ignored Ms. Pelosi, and Mr. Ellis began work on Tuesday. But his work at the National Security Agency lasted less than two full days.

 

[TX-Beau]

I hope that Biden also just removes the board appointments Trump and his Obergruppenfuehers made as well.

I hope so too, I don't know why it shouldn't be possible - but Democrats are notorious for capitulation. It's one of the primary reasons we are in this situation.

 

[KaraBulut]

Re: Trump Staff Picks

Meanwhile....Ronny Jackson has withdrawn from being considered for heading up the VA.

https://www.npr.org/2018/04/26/6054...ign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20180426

That is a bullet dodged.

I wonder if he will be as 'honest' about Trump's health now that his patient threw him under the bus.

It didn't get much press in 2020 but Dr Ronny Jackson is now Rep Ronny Jackson- he was elected by Texans to sit in Congress.

And there's this...

Rep. Ronny Jackson made sexual comments, drank alcohol and took Ambien while working as White House physician, Pentagon watchdog finds [CNN]

The Department of Defense inspector general has issued a scathing review of Rep. Ronny Jackson during his time serving as the top White House physician, concluding that he made "sexual and denigrating" comments about a female subordinate, violated the policy for drinking alcohol while on a presidential trip and took prescription-strength sleeping medication that prompted concerns from his colleagues about his ability to provide proper care.

The findings outlined in the report, which was obtained by CNN prior to its expected release on Wednesday, stem from a years-long IG investigation into Jackson -- who currently represents Texas in the House of Representatives and sits on the House Armed Services subcommittee overseeing military personnel -- that was launched in 2018 and examines allegations that date back to his time serving during the Obama and Trump administrations. Members of Congress were briefed on the IG report findings on Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the matter.